On April 9, 2003, US soldiers entered Baghdad. Pictures of the grateful Iraqis toppling Saddam Hussein’s statue in Firdous Square accompanied by the “spontaneous jubilation” of the masses were shown on television around the world. What really happened in Firdous Square, as revealed by some sections of the US media soon after, was something else. Rather than a “spontaneous” mass demonstration, it was a “media event” orchestrated by the Pentagon with only a couple of hundred Iraqis participating. In a war which began with a lie (Saddam’s WMD), some trickery and some stage-managed shows were only to be expected. But no Iraqi, not even a hardened Baathist, was expecting or prepared for the unraveling of the Iraqi state apparatus and all the horrors that was to follow the Firdous Square drama.
Before the war, US President George Bush and other leaders of the coalition promised the Iraqis liberty, freedom and a life without tyranny. Baghdad and greater parts of Iraq now have none of those things. Also missing are such essentials as drinkable water, electricity, garbage collection as well as roads and neighborhoods that are safe and secure. At least 73 Iraqis were killed or found dead on Sunday with 95 wounded in violent attacks. Two devastating bombings occurred, one in Baghdad and the other in Mahmudiya. In addition, the US military reported the deaths of 11 more service members in separate incidents. Iraq today is a country of multiple battlegrounds — Iraqis, both Sunni and Shiite, pitted against Americans (tens of thousands of Iraqis staged anti-American protests in Najaf yesterday, some burning US flags, in response to a call by Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr), Sunnis and Shiites battling each other, Americans fighting Iraqis opposed to the occupation, criminals of all sects and sorts killing or kidnapping anybody they can lay their hands on. What began largely as a Sunni resistance against the occupation is now a full-blown civil war in all but name.
“Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees,” Pope Benedict said in his Easter message on Sunday. If developments after the “surge” or the crackdown launched by Americans seven weeks ago and billed as the last chance to wrest back control of Baghdad are any indication, “nothing positive” is likely to come anytime soon. Last month at least 2,078 Iraqi civilians, policemen and soldiers were killed. Four US soldiers died in attacks south of Baghdad on Sunday, even as President Bush prayed for the safety of his troops in Iraq in an Easter service at Fort Hood. The government, fearing unrest and insurgent attacks, placed Baghdad under curfew yesterday.
Sen. John McCain, Republican US presidential candidate and a strong supporter of the Iraq War, strolled briefly through an open-air market in Baghdad on April 1. According to NBC’s Nightly News, the senator was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gun ships overhead.” Still he was wearing a bulletproof vest. One can only imagine the perils that await ordinary Iraqis — whether they leave their homes or stay indoors.
